line [noun] [de lijn, de lijnen] [‘lijn‘]

Although "lijn" is directly translated with line, it has many applications – just like in English – and has therefore many additional translations, depending on context.

Examples:
– "Wilt u uw hond aan de lijn houden, alstublieft?"
("Please keep your dog on the leash." Lit.:"Would you keep your dog on the leash, please?")

– "Frank wordt door zijn vriendin aan het lijntje gehouden."
("Frank’s girlfriend has him on a string." Lit.: "Frank is being kept on a string by his girlfriend.")

– "Trek een lijn tussen deze twee punten."
("Draw a line between these two points.")

– "Er zit geen lijn in die presentatie."
("There’s no consistency in that presentation.")

– "Hoe oud zou zij zijn? Zij heeft wel al wat lijntjes rond haar ogen."
("How old would she be? She does have some wrinkles around the eyes.")

– "Ik doe aan de lijn: vanavond naar de sportschool en een salade."
("I’m on a diet: to the gym tonight and a salade.")

– "Kun je in grote lijnen schetsen waar dit project over gaat?"
("Can you sketch in broad outlines what this project is about?")

– "Als de maan op één lijn staat met de zon, hebben we een eclips."
("When the moon is aligned with the sun, we have an eclipse.")

– "Het is prettig samenwerken met die collega, we zitten vaak op één lijn."
("It’s nice to work with that colleague, we’re on the same wavelength a lot.")

– "Schat, ik heb je moeder aan de lijn…"
("Darling, it’s your mother on the phone…" Lit.: "…I have your mother on the line…")

– "Blijft u even aan de lijn a.u.b."
("Please hold / Hold the line, please.")

– "Die buslijn bestaat niet meer."
("That bus route no longer exists.")

– "Hij kijkt raar uit zijn ogen, vast en zeker een lijntje gesnoven."
("He has a funny look in his eyes, must have snorted a line of coke.")

– "Die politicus is van de harde lijn."
("That politician is a hardliner.")

– "De resultaten bewegen zich in een opgaande lijn."
("The results show an upward tendency / trend." Lit. "…move themselves …")

– "Marc stamt in een rechte lijn af van de Franse koning Louis XIV."
("Marc is a direct / lineal descendant of the French king Louis XIV.")

Related words:
– "Touw": rope.
– "Koord": chord.
– "Snaar": string.
– "Streep": stripe.

"Krijgen" is a verb with many applications, with subtle differences. We have tried to cover the most common usage!

1. to get, to receive, to have [verb] [kreeg, gekregen] [‘krij-gun’]

Examples:
– "Het was alsof ik een klap in mijn gezicht kreeg."
("It was as if I got a slap in the face." Lit.: "…in my face.")

– "Ik krijg nog geld van je."
("You still owe me (some) money." Lit.: "I still get money from you." If you leave out "nog" you intend to say that you want it *now*.)

– "Willen vrouwen altijd aandacht krijgen of lijkt dat maar zo?"
("Do women always want to get attention or does it only appear that way?")

– "Ik krijg hoofdpijn van dat gezeik van Frank."
("I get a headache from Frank’s whining.")

Expressions:
– "Krijg nou wat!": <astonished:> "I’ll be damned!" or "What’s this!" (Lit.: Have now something!)
– "Krijg nou de kolere!": <vulgar:> I’ll be damned. (Lit.: Get cholera now!)
– "Krijg de kolere!": <term of abuse:> get cholera! Usually this sounds like "krijg de klere".
– "Gelijk krijgen": to be proved right. Mostly used with past tense.

Example:
– "Na een urenlange discussie kreeg de student eindelijk gelijk."
("After hours of discussion, the student was finally proved right." Lit. "After an hours long discussion…")

2. to get, to have, to obtain [verb] [kreeg, gekregen] [‘krij-gun’]

The difference with 1. is that here it should be a result of your own action.

Examples:
– "Ik heb nog geen antwoord van Frank gekregen."
("I haven’t got an answer from Frank yet.")

– "Ik heb nog steeds geen antwoord van Frank gekregen."
("I still haven’t got an answer from Frank yet.")

– "Sander en Marc hebben veel reacties gekregen op hun vraag over de DWOTD mailing list."
("Sander and Marc have received many reactions to their question regarding the DWOTD mailing list.")

– "De misdadiger heeft 5 jaar gekregen voor zijn aandeel in de moord."
("The criminal got 5 years for his part in the murder.")

– "Zij heeft op jonge leeftijd een kind gekregen."
("She had a child at young age.")

– "Denken mannen dat ze altijd alles voor elkaar krijgen of lijkt dat maar zo?"
("Do men think that they can always get everyting done or does it only appear that way?" See Expressions.)

– "Een strippenkaart kun je ook bij de Albert Heijn krijgen."
("A ‘strippenkaart’ can also be obtained at Albert Heijn’s / You can get a ‘strippenkaart’ at Albert Heijn too.")

– "Ik krijg hem er niet in!"
("I can’t get it in!")

– "Ik krijg hem er niet uit!"
("I can’t get it out!")

Expressions:
– "Wat zullen we nou krijgen?!": What in the world/the hell is this?! (Lit.: What shall we get now?!)

– "Alles/iets/niets voor elkaar krijgen": to get all/something/nothing done.

Related word:
– "Ontvangen": to receive.

3. to catch, to get [verb] [kreeg, gekregen] [‘krij-gun’]

Examples:
– "De politie heeft de dief niet te pakken gekregen."
("The police were not able to catch the thief." Note that "te pakken krijgen" is common idiom for "to catch", and translates literally to "to get for the taking".)

Expressions:
– "Ik krijg je nog wel!":" I’ll get you for this!" Here "nog" is translated with the "will" in " I’ll ".

Related word:
– "Vangen": to catch.

receipt, ticket (fine), coupon [noun] [de bon, de bonnen] [‘bon‘]

"Bon" is typically used for a receipt in a store, and hopefully it will be the common case for you, as opposed to the "ticket" you might get for a traffic offence. The diminutive "bonnetje" is very common in the meaning of "receipt".

Examples:
– "Uw aankoop kan alleen geruild worden binnen 8 dagen met bon."
("Your purchase can only be exchanged within 8 days upon presentation of a receipt." Literally: "… with a receipt.")

– "Wilt u de bon / het bonnetje?"
("Do you want the receipt?")

– "Je moet je bonnnetje goed bewaren, voor het geval dat er iets mis is!"
("You have to hold on to your receipt, in case something is wrong!")

– "U krijgt van mij een bon voor te hard rijden!"
(<police officer:>"I’m giving you a ticket for speeding!" Literally: "… for driving too fast!")

Expressions:
– "Het is op de bon": it is rationed. Used for food, but obviously not in practice anymore in the Netherlands.
– "Op de bon gaan": to be fined, to receive a ticket (for some kind of traffic offence).
– "Op de bon slingeren": to give somebody a fine/ticket. Literally: to sling on the ticket.

Example:
– "Na het beledigen van de agent, werd de man op de bon geslingerd."
("After having insulted the police officer, the man was fined.")

Related words:
– "Waardebon": voucher.
– "Kassabon": cash register slip.
– "Tegoedbon": credit note.
– "Parkeerbon": parking ticket.
– "Boete": fine, penalty.
– "Bonbon": a chocolate, bonbon (taken from the French but can be pronounced the Dutch way).

Extra:
The return policy of purchased goods in the Netherlands is completely customer unfriendly. Usually it has to be returned within 8 days. Often, stores don’t offer refunds, but want to give you a credit note so that they keep the money in house. We think you can actually refuse this, but they will give you a hard time. They will also try to send your DVD recorder off for repairs in the case that you just bought it 2 hours ago and it didn’t work. Of course you must not accept this 🙂

In any case: bewaar altijd je bonnetje!

1. leg [noun] [het been, de benen] [‘been‘]

"Been" in the translation of "leg" is used for humans. Animals have "poten" (singular: "poot"), except for horses. These are considered high-bred hence they have "benen" (and a "hoofd" for example, instead of a "kop").

Many expressions with "been" exist, we have listed a few.

Examples:
– "Ik kan niet opstaan; mijn been slaapt!"
("I can’t get up; my leg is asleep!")

– "De spits speelde zijn tegenstander de bal door de benen."
("The forward played the ball through his opponent’s legs." Literally: "…played his opponent the ball through the legs.")

– "Wist je dat wielrenners hun benen scheren?"
("Did you know that racing cyclists shave their legs?")

Related words:
– "Benenwagen": literally the "legs car" this is said informally when you will travel on foot.

Example:
– "Hoe ga jij naar de stad vanmiddag?" – "Met de benenwagen."
("How will you go downtown this afternoon?" – "On foot.")

– "Arm": arm.
– "Poot": leg (animal).

Expressions:
– "Op eigen benen leren staan": to learn to take care of yourself, lit. "to learn how to stand on own legs".

– "Op de been blijven": to remain on one’s feet.

– "Met het verkeerde been uit bed stappen": to get out of bed on the wrong side (lit. "with the wrong leg").

– "De benen nemen": to flee, to bolt.

– "De benen strekken": to stretch one’s legs.

2. bone [noun] [het been, de beenderen] [‘been‘]

Expression:
– "Als twee honden vechten om een been, loopt de derde ermee heen": two dogs fight for a bone, and a third one runs away with it.

Related words:
– "Bot": bone.
– "Kluiven": to gnaw, also "afkluiven".
– "Kluif": a bone for a dog to gnaw at.

1. job [noun] [de baan, de banen] [‘baan‘]

"Baan" is only used for "job" in the meaning of your daily work or a position/post in a company. Expressions such as "nice job" or, "that should do the job", are not translated with "baan".

Examples:
– "Ik ben op zoek naar een nieuwe baan."
("I’m looking for a new job." Lit.: "I’m on (the) search for a new job.")

– "De perfecte baan bestaat niet."
("There’s no such thing as a perfect job." Lit.: "The perfect job does not exist.")

– "Veel scholieren hebben een vakantiebaantje in de zomer."
("Many high/secondary school students have a summer job." Lit.: "… have a little holiday job in the summer.")

Related word:
– "Bijbaantje": job on the side.
– "Vacature": vacancy.

2. lane, strip, track, court [noun] [de baan, de banen] [‘baan‘]

Examples:
– "Je moet hier van baan wisselen schatje, anders rijden we de verkeerde kant op!"
("You should switch lanes here honey, or we’ll head in the wrong direction!")

– "In Nederland zijn er veel tweebaans snelwegen."
("In the Netherlands, there are many two-lane motor/freeways.")

– "Hoeveel landingsbanen heeft Schiphol?"
("How many landing-strips does Schiphol Airport have?")

– "Er zijn veel tennisbanen op Wimbledon."
("Wimbledon has many tennis courts." Lit.: "There are many…")

Related words:
– "Rijstrook": lane.
– "Baanbrekend": ground breaking.
– "Schaatsbaan": skating rink.
– "Racebaan": race track.

Expressions:
– "Het is van de baan": It’s off, it’s not going to happen anymore.
– "Iets in goede banen leiden": to steer something in the right direction.
– "Op de lange baan schuiven": to postpone something indefinitely.

3. trajectory, orbit [noun] [de baan, de banen] [‘baan‘]

Examples:
– "De maan draait in een baan om de aarde, en de aarde in een baan om de zon."
("The moon orbits the earth, and the earth orbits the sun." Lit.: "The moon turns in an orbit around the earth, and the earth in an orbit around the sun.")

– "De baan van de raket wordt continu bijgesteld door geavanceerde software."
("The rocket’s trajectory is continuously adjusted by advanced software.")